The School Project
by C. G. Adcock
Summary: Leo and Calypso, two strangers with differing personalities, and forced to work together in order to pass a history project.


"Group project," the words where recognized across the class, and the excitement began. Although the assignment had not yet be explained, and the grouping had already begun. A series of odd faces and eye contact quickly but unofficially decided who's with who. Leo got Jason's attention first; he pointed his finger from himself to Jason and raised his eyebrows. Jason bit his lip and tilted hid head towards his girlfriend, Piper. Leo rolled his eyes and turned to Frank, and received a similar response. This was no surprise, Frank and Hazel did everything together. His eyes then found Percy who was already whispering to Annabeth while she tried to listen to the teacher.

Leo sighed to himself, and decided to wait until he could actually _talk_ to a potential partner. But, of course, by this time, almost everyone already had partners, and Leo had no choice but to pair up with the last person available. This was a new girl named Calypso. Leo hadn't spoken with her much, but her personality didn't exactly _compliment_ Leo's. She seemed a bit snarky, if you asked him.

Leo made his way to Calypso's desk on the other side of the room, and sat next to her. She looked up at him.

"Partners?" she inquired. Leo nodded, and Calypso thought for a moment, "You're name is… Nico, right?"

Leo exhaled sharply and shook his head, "It's Leo. Nico is the _other_ short dark-haired guy."

Calypso cringed slightly, "Sorry, I should've known that. I'm not great with names."

"You'd think people would remember the name of a guy like this. I don't know what the deal is!"

"Well, that was a bit conceited."

"It… was a joke…" he trailed off. The awkwardness thickened. Leo didn't get this girl. Who doesn't know a sarcasm when they hear it?

"Okay, let's get to work," Calypso started, "We need to pick a topic."

Leo sighed and drummed his fingers on his desk, "Any war in human history, and we can only pick one." Leo shrugged, "World War II?"

Calypso curled her lips and gave a small groan, "Everybody's gonna do World War II. How about something a little bit less well known."

"Like what?"

"Like… The Trojan War." She seemed rather excited about this.

"Well, you got the 'less well known' part right… I don't think I've heard of it."

"Oh! It takes place in Ancient Greece against Troy." She paused, "I'm kinda a Greek Mythology nerd. Does it sound like anything you would want to do a project on?"

"Can't think of anything better, sooooo sure. Why not?"

"Ugggggh, my life!" Leo complained as he plopped his lunch on the table next to Jason, "By what cruel fate did I end up with _her_ of all people as my partner?"

"Bro, calm down," Jason said, "I doubt she's that bad."

"You don't understand! She's boring, and, rude, and so annoying!"

"She's kinda pretty," Jason offered.

"I'm telling Piper you said that."

"Dude!"

"And that's another thing. You guys always partner with your girlfriend. Like, doesn't that brake the bro code?"

"She's my girlfriend. What do you expect?"

" _Whipped!"_

Jason scoffed, "I'm not whipped by Piper!"

" _Whipped!"_ Leo stood in his char. As Jason struggled to pull him down he yelled, "ATTENTION EVERYBODY! JASON GRACE IS WHIPPED BY HIS GIRLFRIEND!"

This only turned a few heads, but Jason was still embarrassed. He adjusted his glasses, "Shutup, Leo, I am not whipped."

"What are we talking about?" Percy asked. He and Frank had appeared without Leo noticing.

"We're talking about how whipped Jason is," Leo replied.

Frank frowned, "I wouldn't say that Jason's whipped."

"Well of course _you_ wouldn't," Leo smirked, "You're just as whipped as he is! You too, Percy." Leo sighed, "You boys have forgotten the pleasures of single life."

Frank, Percy, and Jason tilted their heads back and proclaimed in unison, " _Denial._ "

Leo was offended, "Denial of what?"

Percy shook his head, "Denial of the fact that you are desperately single."

"I'm not desperately single!"

"Dude, you go after every girl you see."

"No, _they_ go after _me."_

Jason, Frank, and Percy repeated, _"Denial."_

Leo couldn't find a good comeback, "Shutup."

The next day at school, Leo saw Calypso in class again. She sat down next to him and sighed, "Okay," she said, "Lets get to work." Calypso had curled her hair that day. It framed the soft angles of her face, and one little strand hung stubbornly in front of her eye, but Leo didn't care.

"Alright," Leo replied, "But I'll warn you: I don't know anything about this Trojan War thingy."

"Well that's where research comes into play. Why don't you look up how it began, and I'll look up the ending."

"Sounds good to me," Leo leaned back and crossed his arms, "How complicated could it be?"

Very. The Trojan War was very complicated. "What is this?" Leo asked, "This doesn't even seem real! All these freaking gods and goddesses. How could there be a full on war over a stupid apple?"

Calypso rolled her eyes, "You're not very familiar with Greek Mythology, are you?"

"What kind of person is?"

"Me. Anyway, the Greeks saw these deities as very real, and although not many believe in them now, everyone in Greece believed in them then. People wrote these stories as fact, so its the only records we have of this war. Besides, who's to say that these gods aren't real."

"Please don't tell me you actually believe in these stories."

"I'm open to the possibility."

"Okay…" Leo didn't know what to think of this girl.

"Hey, if aren't busy Friday night, do you wanna come over to my place and work on this?"

"Ummmm sure."

"Cool, but _only_ for studying."

"Wouldn't dream of anything else," Leo mumbled.

Leo arrived at Calypso's house at 6:08 on Friday night.

She opened the door, and arched an eyebrow at him, "You're late," she pointed out.

"Oh!" Leo sarcasmed, "I'm so sorry I wasted your precious 8 minutes."

"Well, if we keep talking about it, we'll make it 9. Come on in, and lets get to work."

"You're so welcoming," Leo muttered as he entered.

Calypso lead Leo into the living room, and sat herself down among papers and folders scattered on the couch and coffee table. She gestured for Leo to sit down, and he did so. Calypso reached for he laptop and opened it in her lap.

"Do you mind if I play some music? It helps me think."

"Not at all. What kind do you listen to?"

"Little bit of everything," she clicked the mouse pad, and a song started playing. Leo didn't recognize the song, it was a slow pice of piano music that he could sooner sleep to than study to.

"What is this?" Leo gave Calypso a look that emphasized just how little taste she had.

Calypso shot that same look bak at him, "It's Chopin," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Can we play something that I've heard before?" Calypso looked offended, but he kept talking, "like, Imagine Dragons or Green Day?"

"Yeah, I have some Green Day," She stayed focused on her computer as she played the band.

 _American Idiot,_ Leo said to himself, _much better._

The two of them struggled through the project, silently agreeing to basically bullcrap the entire thing. Music helped keep things entertaining; they occasionally hummed along to it, and worked to the pace of the music.

Even by only that little bit of humming she did, Leo could tell that she had a nice singing voice.

Calypso reached to put some papers on the table, but they slipped out of her hand. Both of them bent down to pick them up, and Leo's hand landed on top of Calypso's.

It seemed like something out of a movie. They made eye contact and held it there for a moment too long. Calypo's eyes looked pretty in the lighting, and in that moment, her cold outer shell seemed cracked.

The moment broke. Calypso sat up and looked away, flustered. She bit her lip, "I think we've done all we can do for tonight. See you on Monday?"

Leo had zoned out, "What? oh, yeah, sure"

Calypso stared at the floor as she showed him to the door.

He was half way down the sidewalk. Leo wanted to say something to her but he had no idea what. "Calypso!" he called out. He turned around, but she was already back inside, "See you on Monday," he muttered.

The boys really needed a break from, well, everything. What better than a Saturday trip to Five Guys to do just that? Fortunately and unfortunately, the ladies of the gang had the exact same idea.

Leo, Percy, Jason, Frank, and Nico arrived first. Only after they had received their food and begun eating did the girls appear. Now, Leo was chill with most of the girls he saw. Annabeth, Thalia, Piper, and Hazel were his friends, and he was happy to see them. But _Calypso_ on the other hand, well, especially after last night, that was a different story.

Leo was the first to see them. He leaned in and set his arms on the table, "Did you guys know your girlfriends were coming here today?"

Percy shrugged, "Annabeth told me they were meeting up, but she didn't say where."

"Well," Leo replied in a hushed tone, "did she mention a _certain someone_ coming along?"

The guys glanced at the group of girls at the door, "No no no! Don't look! They'll know we're talking about them."

Jason grinned, "Is Leo embarrassed about his crush?" he joked in a babyish voice.

"I do not have a crush on Calypso!" Leo exclaimed a bit too loudly.

On the other side of the restaurant, Annabeth, Piper, Thalia, and Hazel were trying to hold back laughter. Calypso had turned scarlet, and Leo could feel himself doing the same.

The rest of the time at the restaurant was about as awkward as it could be; Leo just wanted to leave, and soon.

That night Leo sat plopped on the couch watching reruns of _How I Met Your Mother_ and texting Hazel. The conversation went something like this:

Hazel: _That was an interesting time a lunch today. Care to elaborate?_

Leo: _Not really_

Hazel: _Come on, what's up with you and Calypso?_

Leo: _Absolutely nothing_

Hazel: _For some reason, I don't believe you._

Leo: _You should believe me_

Hazel: _Just tell me why you got so freaked out when you saw her._

Leo: _It's complicated. Why did you invite her anyway?_

Hazel: _It was Piper's idea. She thought that, being new and all, Calypso might be feeling left out, so she invited her._

Leo: _OK whatever_

The next Monday at school was a bit strange. Calypso kept looking at Leo, but every time he noticed, she glanced away.

 _Maybe I should invite her over,_ Leo contemplated in his head, _but it would just be awkward, what we even talk about?_

 _I could ask her out._

 _No! I don't even like her,_ Leo argued.

 _Well, that's a lie,_ replied Leo.

 _No it's not._

 _You have to do something._

 _I could just do nothing. Live out the rest of high school avoiding my problems._

 _That works, right?_

 _Wrong._

The conversation in class was almost non-existent. While Calypso did the essay portion of the project, Leo worked on the Power Point; the tension could be cut with a knife which is pretty much what Leo did.

"Hey," he said as they were packing up, "do you think we should meet up again to finish this thing?"

"I don't think so," Calypso wasn't making eye contact, "All we have left is the poster, and I can do that on my own."

"It'll be easier if we do it together," he insisted, "My place. Tomorrow. 6:00. See you then?" Leo walked away without waiting for a answer.

 _WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT? Why didn't I wait for an answer? What if she as plans, like a social life, or something? Does she even know where my house is?_

At 5:58 Leo paced the floor of his recently cleaned living room waiting for a doorbell. Considering Calypso's reaction to Leo's timing on Friday, he assumed Calypso would be punctual.

There was a knock on the door at 6:02. Leo opened to find Calypso standing outside awkwardly carrying a poster board in one hand and box of craft supplies in the other.

"Sorry I'm late," she started as soon as she saw Leo's face, "I thought I came to the wrong house"

"You're at the right place," Leo assured her as he gestured for her to come in. He noticed his heart was pounding now.

"Well, thank you," Calypso looked Leo up and down, "You're a bit dressed up."

"Oh, yeah," He said looking down at himself, "I, um, had something going on earlier, and I didn't have time to change." This was a lie. All Leo had been doing that afternoon was cleaning the house and overthinking his outfit choices.

"I don't get," Leo complained about half an hour into the project.

Calypso gave an exasperated sigh, "Well, I've explained it to you about a thousand times, so if you don't get it by now—"

"It's not the whole Trojan War thing— even though I don't understand that— it's just this project in general. Why don't the teachers just tell us the information?"

"Well, we remember and it understand it better if we research it for ourselves and present it."

"Okay, but I can do that on my own. Why do we need partners?" Leo was unintentionally raising his voice. Calypso looked surprised, and partially offended.

"Leo, I don't think this is just about some project," Calypso said, "I think you're trying to figure out by what cruel fate you ended up with me of all people as your partner," Calypso's voice was stone cold, and for that first time that week, she made direct eye contact with him. Her face was unreadable, but she looked away and started towards the door before Leo could memorize her expression, "I think we're done here," her voice was getting choked up.

Leo wasn't going to let her get away this time. He grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. This time he was the one making eye contact, "That's not what I meant."

"That's what you said," Calypso's eyes were watering, and her outer shell had cracked open wider. Leo thought back to that day at lunch when he was complaining to Jason. Somehow, his comments spread back to the girl he was talking about.

"I'm sorry. That was before…"

"Before what?"

Leo knew it now, but he couldn't put his feelings into words. Saying that he liked felt like and understatement, but he knew "I love you" would be too much.

"Calypso," he began, "I really care about you. The real you. The you that hides inside that snarky little shell of yours."

The shell was gone completely now. Calypso wanted to tell him how she felt. That he makes her feel the way nobody else could. That her heart pounds every time she even thinks about him. But there were so many tears that she couldn't get a word out, so she just nodded and rested her head on Leo's shoulder.

The two of them stood like that for what felt like hours. They never want to leave this moment, and they couldn't imagine leaving each other.


End file.
